Bonjour from France

[ADV67]

Hi all,

Have been reading this great forum since several months and decided today to buy a 2013 F6B Deluxe (with ABS) with only 3000 miles at my local dealership. I will be picking up the bike tomorrow and am really excited to start riding it! "batsmiley"
It comes with several goodies from the PO: Honda alarm system , a backrest, luggage plate, vented GW windscreen and heated grips.
I just ordered the Ergo III highway pegz and a dark klockwerk 14" screen tonite.

I traded in my 2015 KTM 1290 super adventure with 160hp which is a fantastic bike with superb handling and power but I wanted something more laidback and relaxed for cruising and riding with my wife. Plus some longer travels alone.
We have some fantastic medium high mountains here in the Alsace (and grow some good white wines too!) for nice riding right off the door. I have a 30yr long offroad riding background and still own a few other adventure bikes such as a 950SE, 80 GS and 650 Africa Twin. I had bikes such as the GS1200 adventure and Super Tenere but also a HD XR1200 and wanted someting different. A riding buddy got the F6B last summer and I was amazed what his bike could do on our narrow mountain backroads. So my new bagger is a welcome change, I will enjoy the relaxed cruise!
A few of my friends ride harleys too and now I can ride with them with the better bike! They won't understand why I didnt buy that street glide! :lolup:
I make several extended bike trips every year and will take the F6 down to the mediterranean coast and the Alps for a ride in the twisties within 2 weeks.

Here is a pic in front of the dealership after a short testride, I will post some more pics when I get the bike and done some riding.

Oh yes, I'm almost 49 so still one of the younger riders here I guess. I saw we have a member Kurare from Freiburg-Germany which is only 1h riding away from me (the black forest).

And a big :yes: for this fantastic forum which is a bible of information and where people are so helpful!


http://up.picr.de/26394305yb.jpg

[Pap]

'welcome gang'
Congrats on your new ride!!

[Jimmytee]

Welcome. I'm 47 so I'm younger than you.:icon_lol:

[DaWadd]

Nice. Enjoy riding in that beautiful area and definitely post some pics. Maybe even some cool vids like your neighbour.:yes:

[RWS0292]

Welcome. I'm 47 so I'm younger than you.:icon_lol:

I might be the kid here at 45!

[taxfree4]

Como Ca va (4 years of French in high school and that's it). I bet there's some great riding by you, take some video and post it we would all like to see that beautiful countryside. I've been seriously considering the Africa Twin as a second bike, soon as I dump the Sportster. It looks like a load of fun.

[willtill]

Welcome! :039:

[Jimmytee]

I might be the kid here at 45!

Well, I sometimes act like I'm 12 soooo :nutkick:

[grendl]

Welcome to the Forum !!

[STR8UP]

Bienvenue, d'un cousin canadien. You're going to enjoy that new ride. I have had RT and GT BMWs but this F6B is amazing because it feels like it was made to measure for me...no need to extend the handlebars or to add a lower seat. I am currently on a trip from Toronto to Newfoundland and will ride 9000 km. When I get back home my 2013 F6B will have 50K km (31K miles) of trouble free riding. Let us know about your first impression.

[HBWinger]

Welcome and congradulations:039: I'm also new to the F6B fraternity and enjoy it more than any bike I've had in a while.

[Circle-5]

La F6B est la meilleure bécane du monde -- excellent choix! Ce forum est aussi le meilleur du monde, et tous les membres sont les plus gentils du monde. Bienvenue à bord!~

(The F6B is the best bike in the world -- excellent choice! This forum is also the best in the world, and all its members are the nicest people in the world! Welcome on board!)

[3Chief]

I might be the kid here at 45!

40 myself

'welcome gang'

[RTaz]

4291

[Nightwing_67]

Welcome to the group (im from NY, also 49 and do not speak french so Hello is all I got:icon_lol: ) congratulations on owning the BEST BIKE EVERRRRR. If you get a chance to post video, that would be awesome to see.

[jaygollner]

Living so close to the Alps must be nice.

[ADV67]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome! :icon_biggrin:

Picked up the bike from the dealer today but only rode it home for 15min as it started raining heavily.
This weekend the weather will be nice and I will make a first full day trip to get to know her.

The alps are 4-5hrs riding away from my home. But we have nice hills and and a lower mountain range around here, enough to have fun for a day trip or weekend.

I will post some pics later on!

Au revoir!

[MarcPW]

Salutations de Nouvelle Zélande ! I used to live near the border with Switzerland (Geneva) and I have ridden many passes in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. And visited l'Alsace many years ago (meetings du GoldWing Club local) Yes this is an awesome forum, so "Bienvenu" !

[Ixol Phaane]

'welcome gang'

Welcome to the party! Enjoy the ride.

[ADV67]

Thanks!

So this weekend I did some 500mi of riding, 200 yesterday alone and 300 today 2-up. Only twisties, not a straight road and many very small narrow and bumpy roads too, hairpins etc. A good way to get to know the F6B. I am very happy overall.
I mounted Ergo III highway pegs but could hardly use them as there were almost no straight lines in my weekend ride. :icon_mrgreen:

http://up.picr.de/26432843zr.jpg


My observations:

- The rider pegs scrape really early in the tight turns. Sometimes they hit violently scaring my wife on the back. Suspension is turned up by 2/3rd. The bike could lean much more in the turns still being safe but the pegs limit the angle very early. Any way to raise the bike an inch or so? Different shock and fork springs might help? I do ride a lot of twisties in my area.

- The engine is fantastic! It will lug in 5th gear and has a lot of torque.
As the bike is new to me I am not sure if this noise is normal: when lugging the bike under load below 2500 rpm the gearbox will make a whining noise, a kind of "jiiiii". When revving it in higher rpm or riding it under little partial load like cruising in town it does not make that noise.

- The gearbox clunks pretty loud when shifting gears. Much louder than my old BMW GS and that was loud. Again, this might be normal, I am not familiar (yet) with this engine. Also the final drive has some little play when shifting up or down, this can be straightned out with the clutch but when popping the clutch quickly there is some play. The bike only has 3500mi so it's barely broken in.

- My hips hurt at the end of the day after hours of riding. My knees are pretty much bent ( I am 6.3" and 34" inseam). I might look at a higher saddle to gain some leg space. I am spoiled coing off 1200cc adventure bikes with higher custom saddles (Super tenere, KTM Adventure). The comfort of the stock seat is very good but it's the angle of my legs. The highway pegs help on the longer highway stretches of course.
Are there options for higher saddles on the market or is it better to have one custom made? I might save up some cash and look into Heli bars coming winter to adapt my riding position to my likings.

- My wife is very happy! She loves the bike and is MUCH more comfortable on the back than on any Adventure bike I had over the last 20 years! She wants me to keep the F6B! :icon_cool:


http://up.picr.de/26433140mu.jpg

http://up.picr.de/26433141cb.jpg

[motozeke]

- The rider pegs scrape really early in the tight turns. Sometimes they hit violently scaring my wife on the back. Suspension is turned up by 2/3rd. The bike could lean much more in the turns still being safe but the pegs limit the angle very early. Any way to raise the bike an inch or so? Different shock and fork springs might help? I do ride a lot of twisties in my area.



I've found that modifying your entry line minimizes peg scraping. People riding behind me swear I must be grinding my pegs down to nothing given the pace I maintain, but I rarely scrape pegs anymore.

Slow in, fast out is pretty much the key. With all that torque on tap, make it work for you.

But yes, Progressive sells a spring kit that will give you more clearance if that's what you want.

And welcome to the Forum, new friend!

[ADV67]

That is interesting, Motozeke! I will try that riding technique.
Just came back from a trip in the Italian alps with +3000 turns and switchbacks but I really had to slow down my pace compare to my other bikes because of the early peg scraping.
I love this bike! But man is it heavy in those really tight mountain switchbacks! Some were so tight (and steep uphill) that I had to get back to 1st gear and it almost makes the bike tip over!


This is a wider part, taken on the Stelvio pass which is quite popular amongst bikers as it is one of the highest in Europe:

http://up.picr.de/26524836ft.jpg

http://up.picr.de/26524837sp.jpg

[DarkKnt]

I used to live in Baden Baden, just across the river. Really enjoyed popping over for Sunday dinners at A L'Agneau in Dengolsheim. Filet moutard avec frites; fantastic! Maybe one day I'll get back, hopefully on the 'B.

[Nightwing_67]

My wife is very happy! She loves the bike and is MUCH more comfortable on the back than on any Adventure bike I had over the last 20 years! She wants me to keep the F6B! :icon_cool:

You know what they say, HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE😆